has anyone ever done a retaining wall / backfill arena?

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8027820]
Do you have previous earth-moving skills? How many days did you have to rent the skid for and how did you know how big of a skid to get? Just curious.

I don’t have a tractor and am planning to rent a skid to move poop piles, clean the dry lot this spring, and pull up old fence posts. I have a friend who’s husband has mad skid skills, and I’m wondering if he would be able to do some earth moving for me for my arena (which is basically flat, but drops off a bit too fast on each side, so I’m thinking cut down the middle mound).[/QUOTE]

Skid loader can do a lot of damage to existing grass. Especially track loaders. Especially in the hands of a novice. A tractor and FEL is a lot more gentle but not as much fun.

[Canaqua]

Just this summer, we removed a seriously failing rail road tie retaining wall…about 30 years old and severely rotted, the hill (fortunately not huge!) was on the verge of falling into our driveway. I wouldn’t advise ties if you are going to stay on the property long. Mice and bugs set up shop in the center of the rotted ties and then headed toward the house when they were hungry. Ties are hard to dispose of too, considered “hazardous waste”.

We replaced the ties with granite, which is relatively inexpensive here as we are in granite quarry central and the granite only has to travel a few miles. I had some very large, antique, slabs myself, that were pulled out of the front yard when we decommissioned a 200 year old dug well. That saved some money on materials, but, since a couple of them weigh over a ton, the labor wasn’t cheap.

We had a new wall built, behind a new shed, as well. For that, we used the preformed concrete, interlocking, blocks that look like granite…since that didn’t require heavy equipment to build, the labor was much less.

[China_Doll]

[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;8029290]
I have a 5’ high retaining wall in my jump ring. The dirt taken out on the high side was added to the low side to create a 250 x 250 ring.

Any time you move dirt, you need to be aware of the slope/crowning of the new ring. The dirt cannot be flat or you will end up with mini-lakes of water when it rains. You also need to let everything settle for several months before adding in footing.

If I understood you, your plan is to put in a retaining wall and then backfill it over time? SCARY! I can just imagine a loose horse falling into and getting stuck in there.

My wall was built with railroad ties. Part of it had to be taken down and rebuilt because not enough “sleepers” were built into the wall at first.

The project ended up costing 3x the initial estimates. Half way through I realized I was in trouble, but by then I had no where to ride unless I kept going.[/QUOTE]
I must have missed the part about back filling over time. That isn’t feasible. The rain would make it erode and cause bigger problems besides the safety factor.

[China_Doll]

[QUOTE=gumtree;8030545]
Skid loader can do a lot of damage to existing grass. Especially track loaders. Especially in the hands of a novice. A tractor and FEL is a lot more gentle but not as much fun.[/QUOTE]
You do not drive the skid loader on the good grass. You are on the side of the arena and digging into the high spot and moving it to the low spot.

[Libby2563]

I had to put my arena in a small and very un-level space. No retaining walls but the slopes at each end are large and it works great. I know it’s not exactly what you asked about but there may be a way to do it without the walls. More details and photos here: http://thesmallhorsefarm.blogspot.com/2015/02/building-outdoor-riding-arena-with.html

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Libby, those are great pictures. I love your mirrors too. Your pictures make me want to change my arena location! Ugh. Did you have to haul in dirt, or just move it around?

[Libby2563]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8036530]
Libby, those are great pictures. I love your mirrors too. Your pictures make me want to change my arena location! Ugh. Did you have to haul in dirt, or just move it around?[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I am really really happy with it too! Nope, there was no dirt brought in. It was all just balancing. He stockpiled topsoil to finish off the slopes, he seeded it, and the grass grew in almost instantly. We did end up having to haul in water of all things because halfway through the project the weather suddenly got very dry and the dirt would not compact. The water probably cost more than dirt would have, but the end result was worth it!

I will say that the cut/fill method does cause some variations in drainage. The end near the mirrors, where there is a hill above it, takes a little longer to dry out than the far end where the hill is below it. In the fall that was no problem but in the winter when things never dry out, that end sometimes gets a little heavy/sloppy. Thankfully the footing is good even when wet.

[Libby2563]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8036530]
Libby, those are great pictures. I love your mirrors too. Your pictures make me want to change my arena location! Ugh. Did you have to haul in dirt, or just move it around?[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I am really really happy with it too! Nope, there was no dirt brought in. It was all just balancing. He stockpiled topsoil to finish off the slopes, he seeded it, and the grass grew in almost instantly. We did end up having to haul in water of all things because halfway through the project the weather suddenly got very dry and the dirt would not compact. The water probably cost more than dirt would have, but the end result was worth it!

I will say that the cut/fill method does cause some variations in drainage. The end near the mirrors, where there is a hill above it, takes a little longer to dry out than the far end where the hill is below it. In the fall that was no problem but in the winter when things never dry out, that end sometimes gets a little heavy/sloppy. Thankfully the footing is good even when wet.

[Chall]

There are “rules” about how deep the base needs to be, how deep the foundation stones need to be in the earth and the width of the stones relative to the degree of slope. Drainage must be incorporated and sometimes you need to ensure that drainage happens so pressure doesn’t build up and collapse the wall.

Google it, it’s more complex than I thought. Google collapses those what happens when you don’t follow the “rules”.